The Post’s Steve Serby had an in-depth chat with Rangers free-agent signee Brad Richards.
Q: The pressure being in the New York market?
A: It’s gonna be a different animal, I’m not gonna lie to you. It’s not the same as playing in Tampa or Dallas. But I’ve been through playoff runs. If you’re getting into a Game 7, it’s as much pressure as you can handle no matter where you’re playing, ’cause we all have pride and we want to win. I think the experience of playing on home soil for Team Canada, playing for the Olympics, that’s a lot of pressure that people don’t realize if you’re a Canadian playing on those teams. There’s no option, you have to win. . . . I think that’s something that will make me better, it will drive me, it’ll push me more. Can’t have those nights where you don’t feel like playing hard, you have to play hard in front of these fans, they’ll let you know.
Q: But you don’t want to be perceived as a quote-unquote savior?
A: No, I don’t. Be great if we won a Cup, then you can call me whatever you want.
Q: If the Rangers don’t win the Cup during your time here, would that be unfulfilling, would that be a failure?
A: There is one thing I want to do here, and that’s win. Torts [John Tortorella] and I have talked about that, if there’s one place you could win, this would be the great place to do it so . . . it wouldn’t matter if I’m in New York or wherever I signed, I want to win another Cup before I retire. . . . Wherever I finish my career, it won’t be unfulfilling, it won’t be a failure . . . but I can tell you that no matter what, I want to win another one. It’d be amazing to do it here.
Q: Is this team close?
A: Yeah, I think they’re very close. . . . This team from the outside looking in would be closer than people would have thought about our team in Tampa the year we won. So you don’t know. By Christmas in Tampa that year, we were out of a playoff spot . . . after Christmas, we lost four games, I think, during regulation, so . . . it’s a lot about confidence.
Q: You’re single — Broadway Brad?
A: It was neat to see the headline. . . any headline about yourself in the New York Post.
Q: The very first time you played at the Garden?
A: I remember facing off against Mark Messier . . . very nervous. . . . I got two assists that game, it was a pretty nice moment for me, pretty cool moment.
Q: You didn’t stop to ask for Messier’s autograph?
A: No, I was just hoping he didn’t crosscheck me.
Q: Favorite memory of Coach Tortorella from your Stanley Cup season (with the Lightning) in 2004?
A: In the Finals when we got spanked pretty bad and he took all the attention off us for a few days by going on a rant. . . . There’s lots of days I remember where it was miserable to be around him too. . . . He made us drive around the city on a bus here one year . . . in our equipment for no reason (smile). You’d have to be part of the team to understand why. It was well-deserved. It was a way of teaching us a lesson.
Q: Winning the Cup (as a rookie)?
A: It’s kind of all a blur right now. I remember hoisting the Cup, looking for my family when I had the Cup in my hands. There was such a high that whole night that you have to watch it again to remember each moment. . . . You’re in a different world. I think what makes it so much fun if you win it twice, you’ll be able to savor a lot more than you did the first time . . . We didn’t have a clue how to cherish the moment. It was still the best moment of my life but . . . I want to win it again because I’ll make sure I have that Cup in my hands probably for 10 laps, not one. . . . I think once you get a taste, you really want to win it again.
Q: Did you take the Cup to bed with you when you brought it home?
A: I put it in mom and dad’s bed. I didn’t go to bed . . . We put it in with them, so that when they woke up they could go do some stuff with it.
Q: The ’94 Rangers winning the Cup?
A: I remember how excited I saw Messier when he grabbed the Cup . . . the Garden atmosphere . . . I remember them chanting ‘1940’ or whatever it was they were chanting.
Q: Brad Richards scouting report?
A: I get a lot more enjoyment out of trying to feed someone for an empty net or a goal or something than I do scoring sometimes, which I’ve tried to change a little bit to help me.
Q: Your friend Sean Avery?
A: I think he has a lot bigger heart than a lot of people think.
Q: Superstitions?
A: It would take forever to get through those. . . . My No. 1 is my stick blade, once it’s taped it can’t touch the ground until it touches the ice. I’ll retape the stick if that happens. And I come out last on the ice . . . unless someone’s older than me that I can’t trump.
Q: What drives you?
A: Just being lucky enough to play. You know it’s gonna come to an end someday. The year I got traded — ’07-08 — probably didn’t have as much fun in the game as I should have, put way too much on myself. The last years I just kinda realized how lucky we are to be playing. No matter what, it’s gonna end some day, so really put it all out there because there’s nothing like getting to perform in front of 20,000 people, I’ll never have that again.
Q: Captain?
A: I’m gonna do whatever they want me. I’m gonna definitely help, whether I have nothing on my jersey or a letter, it doesn’t matter.
Q: The impact your cousin Jamie has had on your life?
A: He was my best friend, my buddy, we grew up across the street from each other. . . . To see him pass away at an early age, he didn’t really have an impact at that age, you just lost your buddy. . . . Now it’s impacted me a lot more than I ever would have imagined.
Q: Impacted you in what way?
A: How I get involved with charities and why I want to. I started a foundation in his name in PEI (Prince Edward Island) at the Childrens Cancer Wing of the hospital, so it’s gonna be a legacy we can create for the rest of hopefully my life and continue on.
Q: How old was he?
A: He was 7 and I was 9. He was still my buddy, and didn’t understand why I couldn’t hang out with him that much anymore, but that was about it. At that age, you’re not really in tune of what a brain tumor is or what it’s doing to the kid, so . . .
Q: What do you remember about him?
A: It’s amazing, I see it still with all the kids I deal with — they never complain, they never frown, it’s hard to imagine what they’re going through. He still tried to do everything every day, his parents had to hold him back from doing stuff because it just wasn’t going to be healthy for him.
Q: The Autism Society?
A: I have a cousin that has three boys and the two youngest boys have autism. So we just paired the Children’s Wish and Autism in together with my golf tournament.
Q: Richy’s Rascals?
A: That was in Tampa. I bought a suite for all the games to bring cancer kids and their families in. So you had three or four families every game, and we called them Richy’s Rascals so they could bring their siblings in. We re-did the suite into kind of a playland — some of them weren’t hockey fans obviously, but it was something for them to do, get out of the house, so. . . there were other things for them to do . . . and I would meet with them after the games.
Q: Taskforce 19?
A: I was just bringing military troops to every home game just as a thank you.
Q: Boyhood idol?
A: Joe Sakic. His demeanor, the way he does everything — he was always quiet, professional . . . just underrated, but did his job night in and night out the way it was supposed to be done, never got into trouble . . . loved how he played on the ice too. That’s why I have No. 19.
Q: Favorite childhood memory?
A: I got to go to the Canada Cup in 1991, watch Team Canada play Team USA in the final, and I got to meet a bunch of players before the game in the lobby, getting autographs.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Bobby Jones; Phil Mickelson; JFK.